It’s a fairly standard greeting … the “hello” handshake. Whenever I meet a new patient, I say Hi, introduce myself, and stick my hand out for a shake. And if it’s someone I have seen before, there’s a Hi, how have you been, with a simultaneous handshake.

But if infectious disease experts from UCLA have their way, my handshake may go the way of leeches and bloodletting — replaced by a long distance wave or salute.

A commentary in the Journal Of The American Medical Association says it’s time to say goodbye to the handshake greeting in a health care setting. Or for that measure, goodbye to the goodbye handshake as well.

Sure, a firm handshake can be seen as a sign of greeting and compassion, but it’s also believed to be one of the easiest methods to transmit germs. We’ve actually believe this for a long time but perhaps there is new urgency in the mysterious new world of diseases like MERS.